New Ulm weekly review., 1887-09-14
crawling toward ME. The snake was

crawling toward ME. The snake was
corning to bite me, and Twas helpless.
Every moment OF tie reptile was as
vivid as if the dream had been a real
lty. The serpent came very slowly,
haltlng every two or threefeet to rear
its head and look about, and when it
was within ten feet its form changed.
It was yet a serpent, but it had a
small brown hand, and the hand
clutched a bulldog pistol. The pistol
was pointed full at me, and Isaw
that the BANNER was up.
''Whizz" went a shadow before my
face, and then saw behind me. The
snake was no longer in front, but
creeping up in my rear, and yet / saw
hun as plainly as before. He came
on clowly cautiously-always a little
nearer. When within three feet of my
heels the pistol was raised to the back
Of my head, and said to myself:
$50 am to be shot. It is a large
bullet, and it will go clear through my
head. I wonder why he didn't bite
me? Ii I was loose would make a
fierce fight for my life.
"Clug" 1t was the sound OF a p,s-
tol hammer striking on the center ota
cartridge "a cartridge which had failed
to explode. In the same second
| was on my feet. A human figure
stood : before me. / gave my
heavy rifle half sweep, and
the figure sank down with a
stifed Shrek Then I was fully
awake, and bent over the stranger,
to find it was the woman who should
have been asleep in the wagon. She
was unconscious, but clutched firmly
in her right hand was the bulldog pis-
tol. l wrenched it away and carried
her to the embers of the fire, and when
had secured blaze saw that / had
struck her on the head and given her
bad hurt I examined the pistol,
and when found that the cartridge
not take me long to unravel the plot
against my life. | bound the woman
hand and foot. and then kept vigilant
watch until day break. She recovered
consciousness long enough before this,
but the only aid l extended was to
loosen her hands and place dish of
water beside her. She did not adj
dress me, and had no word for her.
When day broke there was another
surprise for me. A Kickapoo Indian
lay dead under the wagon, shot
through the heart. 1t was q great
mystery to me, but the woman was
ready to clear it up. I united her,
washed the blood off her face and
head, and then she gave the whole
plot away Patton had been made a
prisoner by a gang of outlaws in order
that might be robbed. These men
knew Of the tin box in the wagon. The
woman had been sent into camp with
The story she told, knowing that she
would get into the wagon. The two
men came to distract my attention,
and the Kickapoo crept up to receive
the box. The woman couldn' fndit,
and mistook the Indian for wolf
and killed him. Then the woman
concluded that had the
money on me, while mapped she crept
up to shoot ME and secure it. She
told the particulars as coolly as re-
late them to you, and when she had
finished she asked what>I was going
to do about it. Patton had by that
time returned, having raised such q
row that his capJors feared to detain
him longer, and he answered the
question by picking up a rope and
starting for the nearest tree.
This broke the woman down, and
she begged and pleaded SO abjectlv
that we left her free to 60 where she
would when we drove on. To have 1
taken her. to Ockmulgee, Kickapoo or
any other town as a prisoner would
have been to cause us CRATE delay and
annoyance, and it was some consola
tion to know that the blow gave her
caused wound from which she would
not recover for many days. She was
penitent enough as we drove away,
but six weeks later vas killed with
her husband, ahalf-breed, a while steal
ing stock from the Creek Indians.